Another item crossed off on the checklist. Purchased my tickets for the 2010-2011 Syracuse University Student Mens Basketball season. I’ll be sitting in STUD02, GA7. Can’t wait!

Longtime Yankees owner George Steinbrenner died today. Often a polarizing figure, Steinbrenner built a behemoth of a sports empire. He always set the bar as high as possible – failure was unacceptable. It’s been great being a Yankee fan under his leadership. I think he’s taught a lot of people what winning means. Always intense and always classy, he will be missed.

Longtime Yankee announcer Robert Leo “Bob” Sheppard died on the 11th.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be so enamored by a flashlight, but that was before I got the Fenix LD10 R4 Tactical LED Flashlight.

I was looking for an upgrade to my nighttime bicycle light, and was pretty shocked to see high lumen lights in the bike department for north of $100. I ride just about every day so this purchase is important, but the >$100 price tag just seemed a little ridiculous.

Enter Paul D.Paul D. (a great guy and expert in equipment/gear of every size and shape) asked me, “Why don’t you just get a high-performance tactical LED flashlight with 4 lighting levels and 2 flashing outputs?” Ummmm. Because I have no idea what your’e talking about?

Long story short, I get this flashlight ($55 through batteryjunction.com) and am just blown away. I had no idea flashlights had so many settings and shine REALLY bright (my technical description of 132 lumens). The light cost less than half of what I was originally looking at and shines about 2x as bright. I did have to get a mount ($15) but that’s still less than what I was originally looking at. I’ll be trying it out for the first time tonight, weather permitting. Specs below:

• Cree XP-G LED (R4) with lifespan of 50,000 hours
• Two modes (6 types) of output, generation/turbo selected by turning the bezel (patented)
• General Mode: 9 lumens (34hrs) -> 50 lumens (6hrs) -> 105 lumens (2.2hrs) -> SOS
• Turbo Mode: 132 lumens (1.5hrs) -> Strobe
• Digitally regulated output – maintains constant brightness
• Uses one 1.5V AA ( Ni-MH, Alkaline ) batteries, inexpensive and widely available
• 100mm (Length) x 21.5mm (Diameter)
• Made of durable aircraft-grade aluminum
• Premium Type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish
• 54-gram weight (excluding batteries)
• Waterproof to IPX-8 Standard Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating
• Push-button tail cap switch
• Capable of standing up securely on a flat surface to serve as a candle
• Anti-roll, slip-resistant body design
• Included accessories: holster, lanyard, body clip, two spare o-rings, and a rubber switch boot

Route
11.1944 miles
2048.7700712333763 calories
see link for elevation

The time has come for players to carve their name in history. One touch, tackle or free kick could crush a nation’s hopes or cause them to build a statue in your honour. Drogba, Rooney and Ronaldo are ready to Write The Future.

Write yours at http://www.nike.com/nikefootball/

NIKE FOOTBALL WRITE THE FUTURE – FULL LENGTH VERSION

Not too long ago the Knicks were contenders and had many memorable playoff games against the Pacers. The crowd reaction to LJ’s 3 pointer is just awesome. Though the Knicks naver won it all during Ewing’s reign they were a force. What are they now? Irrelevant. Another year, another playoffs, another no-show.

CRAZY!

Pretty neat…an excerpt of a movie about some outdoor adventures in the 1960′s by Yvon Chouinord (and friends). He founded Patagonia. From YouTube:

In the summer of 1968 three men – climber and surfer Yvon Chouinard, climber and skier Doug Tompkins, and champion skier Dick Dorworth – set off from California in an old van to surf, ski and climb their way down to the southern end of Argentina where they met up with a young British climber, Chris Jones. Their goal was to climb a mountain that had been climbed only twice before: Cerro Fitz Roy.

In this excerpt, watch as Yvon, Doug and Dick score waves in Peru. First they surf a left point break in Chicama and then shoot the pier in Cerro Azul.

Spent the morning snowshoeing in Harriman State Park. Was completely geared up with -

• MSR Denali Evo Ascent Snowshoes + 6″ Flotation Tails
• GTX low cut hiking shoes
• Smartwool ski socks
• Outdoor Research Flex-Tex Gaiters
• Cloudveil FirsTurn Jacket/softshell
• Smartwool Long Underwear (top and bottom)
• Patagonia Capilene 3/4 shirt (baselayer)
• Marmot Scree Pant
• Outdoor Research Peruvian hat and Adrenaline gloves
• CamelBak M.U.L.E.
• Bushnell BackTrack (which is totally awesome and accurate. I went bushwacking off trail and this got me back to the car with pinpoint accuracy).

It was a nice  aerobic activity and, given that the temperature was in the 20′s with wind, the gear made a huge difference.  The highlight was testing out my new Canon PowerShot SX200 IS camera. Took some great snaps and even had a chance to test the HD video component. Am really happy with the outcome.

Click the images above to be taken to full-sized images.

At the time of posting, YouTube says that

This video is still being processed. Video quality may improve once processing is complete.

Video was shot in HD. We’ll see if does in fact improve over time.